Celtics vs. Cavaliers score: Derrick White proves once again why he’s the key to Boston’s title defense

The Boston Celtics kept the good times going on Tuesday night by strolling into Cleveland and beating the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers, 112-105. After a strange midseason slump, the Celtics have now won four straight games and seven of their last nine. 

Just as they did in their first matchup with the Cavaliers this season, the Celtics had to hold off a late comeback attempt. They were able to do so this time thanks to a huge fourth-quarter performance from Derrick White, who hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 of his 20 points in the final frame. 

White opened the fourth with a few 30-footers to briefly push the Celtics’ lead up to 15. And then, after the Cavs cut the deficit down to four with 5:30 remaining, he scored eight straight for the Celtics to bring the lead back to double-digits and essentially end the contest. 

“He’s one of the most clutch players on our team,” Kristaps Porzingis said. “He always hits big shots.”

All of White’s buckets during his mini takeover came off of one of the Celtics’ pet plays down the stretch: the White-Jayson Tatum pick-and-roll. 

On the first possession, the Cavaliers don’t execute their switch properly and White was able to walk into a mid-range jumper. The next time down, the switch does occur, but it left Darius Garland trying to deal with Tatum, so the Cavs sent help from the nearest player, which is White. Tatum read that and kicked it out to White, who pump-faked into a pull-up 3-pointer. 

Finally, Tatum slipped out of the screen and White hit him on the short roll. Tatum kicked it out to Al Horford, who attacked the closeout and made one extra pass to White, who rattled in another 3. 

“JT, JB, KP get a lot of attention and you got to live with something,” White said. “So just try to step up and shoot them with confidence and knock them down. I was able to do that tonight.”

Why White is key to the Celtics reaching their potential

It’s no surprise that the Celtics’ recent turnaround has coincided with White’s return to form. One of the many reasons the Celtics cruised to a championship last season was White taking the leap from good role player to borderline All-Star. 

Likewise, his strong start to the season played a big part in the Celtics opening up 16-3. But in recent weeks, White did not look like himself. 

He missed two games with an illness and a shin contusion, had a five-game stretch where he shot 4 of 36 from 3-point range and scored in single digits five different times. During the Celtics’ month-long slog in which they went 9-8, White averaged 13.7 points and 3.1 rebounds on 41.3/34.1/78.3 shooting splits. 

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White has looked like the best version of himself again during the Celtics’ recent winning streak. Over these four games, he’s at 18.8 points and 4.8 assists on 52.1/48.6/70.0 splits. For the season, the Celtics are now 19-3 when White shoots 50% or better from the floor and 17-12 when he’s below 50% or does not play. 

“When he plays that way we’re a completely different team,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “It’s important he keeps that up because of his abiility to impact the game on both ends of the floor. That’s who he is. The late-game shot-making, the ability to make plays, that’s who he is for us and we have to fight to make sure he keeps that belief and confidence. 

When White is shooting the ball well and scoring at an efficient rate, Boston’s offense becomes almost impossible to stop. Now that he’s rolling again, so are the Celtics.